


Five Times Juliet O'Hara Fell in Love with Shawn Spencer (and one time she told him so)

by RobinsonsWereHere



Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Falling In Love, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Juliet O'Hara POV, Love Confessions, Romance, steve franks let jules say i love you challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:20:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29517981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsonsWereHere/pseuds/RobinsonsWereHere
Summary: Juliet has a lot of complicated feelings about Shawn... how does love fit in?
Relationships: Juliet O'Hara/Shawn Spencer
Comments: 9
Kudos: 11





	Five Times Juliet O'Hara Fell in Love with Shawn Spencer (and one time she told him so)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shuuuliet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuuuliet/gifts).



> I started this a while back and then a discussion on the shules lovers discord about how we _never_ see Jules say she loves Shawn got me inspired to pick it back up. We get so much of Shawn pining, we deserve some of that for Juliet too! Dedicated to everyone on the discord, especially **shuuuliet** bc they already have so many _excellent_ pining Jules fics. Go check them out!

**I.**

Ever since Shawn had come up with ‘close talking’ weeks before, Juliet has been really struggling to only see him in a professional light. For a while, she couldn’t look at him without remembering the heat of his body so close to hers and the way his breath had ghosted over her lips…

By now, the memories are mostly relegated to when she’s bored out of her mind from paperwork, and at night, when they twist into dreams she never intends to reveal to anyone. But regardless, that night had changed something between her and Shawn, and she can’t ignore it, as much as she wants to.

Still, she would’ve thought that she’d have more trouble denying her attraction to Shawn when he was _trying_ to flirt with her, instead of now. During a lecture from a very aggravated Chief Vick. After they’ve all taken an impromptu swim off the Santa Barbara pier.

All four of them are soaked through, her, Carlton, Shawn, and Gus. It’s just that Shawn wears ‘soaked through’ _very well._

His t-shirt clings to every contour of his arms and chest, every muscle she shouldn’t be staring at. His sodden jeans hang low on his hips, and with the shirt rucked up a bit, Juliet can see some skin, too. Shawn stretches, running a hand through his dripping hair, and a water droplet runs from the hem of his shirt, now dragged well up his chest, down the skin she suddenly has an urge to run her tongue over.

“O’Hara!”

Juliet snaps back to attention at her partner’s voice. “Sorry?”

The chief raises an eyebrow. “Still with us, Detective?”

Juliet assures them she is.

But it’s not long before her eyes are drawn back to Shawn. And it’s not the last time she finds herself tempted.

**II.**

Juliet is trying her hardest to convince herself that her feelings for Shawn are nothing but platonic.

Walking down the boardwalk at sunset, her in a nice dress and him in a leather jacket that looks entirely too good on him, is not helping her achieve that goal.

“So what do you think, Jules?” Shawn bumps his shoulder against hers, reminding her of their afternoon at the roller rink. “Better than Mario’s?”

Biting her lip, Juliet hesitates to answer. She can hear the hidden question, too. _Am I a better date than Cameron?_

But this isn’t a date, it can’t be, she’s not going to date her coworker who makes it his life’s work to never be taken seriously. It’s a bad idea on so many levels, even if there are times, like now, that make her forget that.

Juliet plays it off with a joke, like Shawn always does. “Hm, I’m not sure pre-cooked hot dogs are going to beat out homemade pasta.”

Shawn chuckles. “I guess you’re right. And their breadsticks are the bomb.”

The joke saves the conversation, but Juliet’s traitorous mind continues to wander. She watches Shawn, and he’s watching her, too, and when their eyes meet, she can almost feel a spark. This is too much. She’s being ridiculous.

Still, as they head back to the Psych office, her mind wanders.

Part of her, her romantic side, wants him to kiss her softly, as if this were a proper first date.

Part of her, the part very attracted to his stubble and his leather jacket and his fiery smirk, wants him to push her against the wall, frame her body with his, and kiss her in a way that is definitely not befitting of the first date.

But the part that wins is her rational side, the same part that solves murders. She can’t kiss Shawn tonight. They’re not dating, and they shouldn’t. It would be too _messy._

But even her rational side keeps the qualifier.

Not… _tonight._

**III.**

Juliet has a lot of feelings for Shawn.

A lot of complicated, intense, even conflicting feelings.

But if tonight has taught her one thing, it’s that none of them have as much time as they think. To think that Shawn could’ve _died_ today and she would still be going back and forth on if it was even worth it, to tell him how she feels…

So she gathers up her courage, whatever amount hasn’t been spent dealing with a serial killer, and waits in the drive-in. She doesn’t know why Shawn would be here tonight, would choose to watch a movie in the place his mother had almost died, out of all the options, but sure enough, he’s there, gathering a tray of concessions as she slips through the door.

“Hi,” she says softly.

He jumps a mile. “Jules!”

At this point, her heart is already pounding in her chest, and she’s glad that her sleeves are long enough to stretch down over her clammy palms. She’s sure it’s adrenaline that has her stumbling through the same banter that’s normally so easy but seems oddly strained on both sides tonight. Everything feels like a blur.

And then, she finally gets Shawn to stop talking. For once.

“I just-- I think the best things, the richest things,” she starts, stammering over her words as she tries to say something that doesn’t sound awkward, “aren’t supposed to come easily. And maybe…” she takes a shaky breath. “Maybe the things that make the most sense happen when everything else doesn’t, and I-- I don’t know what I’m trying to say, except that I think you deserve more than popcorn tonight.”

Juliet reaches to take the tray from his hands, to close the gap between them, searching Shawn’s face for any hint of emotion or response. But he’s an entirely blank slate, except for the fact that he looks almost like he’s going to be sick.

“Detective O’Hara,” he says, and in two words it’s all over, because he never uses her title, “are you asking me on a date?”

She nods, a little breathless. “Yes?”

Shawn laughs, but it doesn’t sound like him. “You have _horrible_ timing. I…” for a moment, it’s like he’s stuck, like he can’t get the words out. “I’m already on one.”

Juliet swears that she hears a record-scratch, like a freeze frame in a movie. “Wh-what? A date? Right now?”

But it almost doesn’t matter what he says next, because this is over. This is it. Thanks for playing, better luck next time, but she’s out of tokens. She’s missed her chance.

She puts on a brave smile as she nudges Shawn toward the door. “She won’t wait forever,” she manages to say, although she feels like she might start crying at any moment. She should just let him go, but with everything still running around her head, when she feels like Shawn’s hand is tight around her beating heart…

When she kisses him on the cheek, she’s sure it’s the only one she’ll get to give him. This, this professional relationship with too much banter and looks that last too long, is all they get to have.

So why does she suddenly, painfully, want so much more?

**IV.**

It’s a strange feeling, falling in love with Shawn so surely, when she knows just as surely that she can’t have him.

That’s what makes Juliet reluctantly classify her emotions as love, unavoidably, when they don’t cool or calm down when Shawn starts dating Abigail. She should let sleeping dogs lie, move on, set her heart on someone who can feel the same way about her, but no. She’s stuck on Shawn Spencer.

Some days, she doesn’t mind it. Her aching, yearning heart tells her this will be enough, to watch from afar and soak up every minute with him she gets.

But other days, she hates it. Her burning love turns into a roaring fury as she tries to deny it, force it down. She can’t be in love with him. It’s _stupid_ and pointless to fall for someone who has so clearly moved on. Not that there was anything to move on from, other than a bit of playful flirting that she’d been lax enough to indulge.

Juliet knows Shawn doesn’t-- _can’t--_ love her. There’s no reason for him to. And if she thought there was even the slightest chance that his feelings at all mirrored hers… the walls she’s put up, the facade she’s crafted… it would all break.

Of course, it had to happen sometime.

This timing, though... 

It’s just _the worst._

Shawn is saying nonsense, albeit nonsense she’s frantically trying to scribble down, on the other end of the phone. He sounds like he’s in pain, like he’s tired, and every word is both a relief and a gut punch. But it’s the end of the call that really knocks her to the ground.

_”I…”_ he sounds like he’s struggling for words. _”I just need you to know that… I love you.”_

Juliet’s mind goes entirely blank with shock for several seconds. Shawn’s words are the only things echoing around her head.

_I love you._

_I love you._

_I love you._

“Shawn, I--” she’s lost her ability to speak at the worst possible time. “I think that I--”

_Goodbye, Abigail._

And the line goes dead.

It makes sense.

He’s been shot, after all. He’s probably in pain, delirious-- his rambling at the beginning had proven that much. And it makes sense, that if he really wants to say goodbye, he would call his girlfriend.

She doesn’t ask him about it, even when his nonsense turns out to be clues and they have him safely carted away to the hospital. Because it hurts, hurts so much even when she keeps her feelings closed away, private. She doesn’t want to know how much it would hurt to bare her heart and have it broken all over again.

**V.**

Juliet is on cloud nine.

She doesn’t ever want to leave this ridiculously huge bed, and it seems like she might never have to. The hotel room’s phone is within reach, meaning she can order room service. The curtains are wide open, providing bright sunlight and beautiful blue skies. 

And of course, she has Shawn.

He’s asleep now, but she lies next to him, using his arm as a pillow. They’re both wrapped up in sheets, but where they’re not tangled in blankets, their skin is touching, a warm and tangible promise that the night before had not been a dream.

All that she can think, lying in the most luxurious hotel bed she’s ever been in, is that she’s so in love with him.

Careful not to wake him, Juliet slides her hand into his, shifting a little bit to press a kiss to his cheek.

She has everything she needs right here. They could stay like this forever, holding onto each other, never having to let go. This is bliss. This is true joy. This is love.

And for the first time, loving Shawn doesn’t hurt.

In fact, everything about her life feels better than it ever has before.

Shawn moves underneath her, his eyes slowly fluttering open and a soft groan escaping his lips. “Mmn. Morning, Jules.” He jolts, suddenly more awake. “Jules. Wow.” His tone is reverent as a smile spreads over his face. “This is real.”

Juliet can’t stop herself from leaning forward to capture him in a kiss. When she’s done, she stays close, her forehead resting against his. “It’s real,” she promises.

_Finally._

**+I**

Juliet goes over to Shawn’s house, after that crazy case and the whole weird week has been wrapped up.

The drive is peaceful. She plays a CD on low volume, but mostly she’s lost in her thoughts. In her mind, she’s back in the interrogation room, watching Shawn grow more and more frenetic as he rants to Lassiter.

_”You’re just gonna have to deal with the fact that I love her!”_

A smile curves over her face to match the butterflies still fluttering in her stomach. She knows Shawn doesn’t want to talk about it, but the fact that it had slipped out so easily, like he was explaining a fact of life, is plenty for her. Of course she wants him to wait until he feels comfortable to ‘officially’ tell her, but also…

“Hey, babe!” Shawn lights up when he sees her, and Juliet beams. She loves his dorky grin.

“Hi.” She gives him a quick peck. “I hope you don’t mind me surprising you.”

“Oh, no way,” he assures her. “Mi casa es su casa, Jules.”

She laughs. “Thanks. And this isn’t anything fancy, I just wanted to… come by.” They’ve been together long enough that they spend plenty of time at each other’s houses without it being a date, but she offers the reassurance.

Shawn squints at her as they move into his living room, where Juliet flops onto the couch. “You… still want to talk about yesterday at the station.”

“I do,” Juliet admits, sitting up, “but Shawn, please don’t be worried or stressed about this. I trust you, and I don’t need you to be super specific, or quantify exactly where we are in our relationship.” She reaches out to take his hand, pulling him closer. “I do want you to know that…” in the moment it takes her to inhale, she second-guesses herself a thousand times over, but she’s just told Shawn she trusts him, and she means it. She trusts him not to run away. “I love you.”

Her boyfriend drops down onto the couch next to her, looking stunned. “Jules… wow.”

“I don’t need you to say it back,” she assures him. “When you’re ready, Shawn. When you’re ready. I just want you to know how I feel.”

Suddenly, he surges toward her, his hands winding tightly into her hair as he kisses her, hard. They stay connected for a long time, pressed against each other, and Shawn’s nearly on top of her by the time they pause for air. He buries his head in her neck. “I don’t deserve you.”

Her hand is in his hair, too, so she pulls him up, gently but forcefully. “Shawn Spencer, I don’t ever want to hear you say that again, understand?” She kisses him again, fiercely. “You’re mine. And I’m yours. And we fit, we fit perfectly. So we deserve each other.”

“Okay,” he breathes. “Okay.”

She pulls him against her, not minding his weight on top of her. “We’re good? This is okay?”

Shawn lifts his head to smile at her. “Jules… this is perfect.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed, or find me on tumblr at nurseherewards !


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